Sentinel North Author Fund

Sharing research results—especially in open access—increases the use, application, and impact of research. To that end, Sentinel North supports its community with an Author Fund, which helps its teams cover article processing charges (APCs).

The Fund is intended to support first-author publications by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows while strengthening Sentinel North’s commitment to open access and encouraging use of the university’s Corpus^UL repository.

Submitting an application

To submit an application, simply:

Fill out the Author Fund application form online.
Include the scientific article for which you are requesting funding. This may be the accepted or published version of the article, depending on the progress of the publication. You may apply to the Fund after your article has been published, as long as it was officially accepted within the past 6 months.

Important dates

You may apply for the Author Fund at any time. However, applications will only be processed and evaluated three times per year. Applicants should take the following evaluation dates into account:

February 1
June 1
November 1

Applicants will be informed of the status of their application within 10 business days of evaluation.

Application assessment

Applications are assessed according to eligibility criteria.
Applicants may receive up to 3 first-author publication grants per fiscal year (April 1 to March 31).
Funding for applications that meet the eligibility criteria is dependent on the Fund’s budget for the year. Funding is provided on a first-come, first-served basis until the Fund has been exhausted. Once the Fund has been exhausted for the fiscal year, no further applications will be accepted.

Reimbursable costs

The Fund will provide up to $2,500 per article to cover the costs of publishing as a first author in a subscription or fully open-access journal.

Eligibility criteria

The Author Fund will only cover publication fees in two types of journal: 1) Fully open access, or 2) Subscription. Eligibility criteria differ depending on the type of journal. A check mark in the appropriate column indicates whether a criterion applies.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT	OPEN-ACCESS JOURNAL	SUBSCRIPTION JOURNAL
1. The journal must be peer reviewed.	✔	✔
2. Published results must be from a project that has received funding from Sentinel North.	✔	✔
3. The first author must have received funding from Sentinel North or have participated in a project funded by Sentinel North while they were a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow at Université Laval.	✔	✔
4. The journal must be included in the Directory of Open Access Journals or adhere to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing	✔
5. The journal must appear in an established database (e.g. : Scopus, Web of Science).		✔
6. The applicant must agree to submit the article to Corpus^UL, Université Laval’s institutional repository, for dissemination.	✔	✔
7. The applicant must agree to submit the accepted version of the article to Corpus^UL. The accepted version of an article, i.e., without the journal format, can generally be made freely available in an institutional repository without violating the publication agreement with the publisher.		✔
8. If an article has been published, it must have been officially accepted within the past six months.	✔	✔
9. Sentinel North must be acknowledged in the publication*.	✔	✔

* Suggested acknowledgement forms (English and French versions):

This research was supported by the Sentinel North program of Université Laval, made possible, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund. / Cette recherche a été rendue possible grâce au soutien du programme Sentinelle Nord de l'Université Laval, financé, en partie, par le Fonds d’excellence en recherche Apogée Canada.

Funded by the Sentinel North program of Université Laval (Canada First Research Excellence Fund). / Financé par le programme Sentinelle Nord de l'Université Laval (Apogée Canada).

Ineligible publications

Hybrid journals: “Hybrid” journals allow an author to pay an additional fee to make their article open access, but access to all of the journal’s articles requires a subscription. Publishing open-access articles in this type of journal means that the publisher gets paid twice: once by the author, who pays for open access, and once by universities, which pay the subscription fee to access all articles in the journal.

Like many other institutions, Université Laval’s Sentinel North research program does not wish to encourage this practice. For that reason, open-access articles in hybrid journals are not eligible for funding from the Author Fund. That said, an article published in a hybrid journal may be eligible for the Author Fund if the author did not pay to make their article open access. However, the author must also agree to submit the accepted version of their article to Corpus^UL, Université Laval’s institutional repository, so that it can be made freely available.
• Deceptive journals: Sentinel North reserves the right to refuse requests for publication in journals by predatory publishers. Université Laval provides access to Cabal’s Predatory Reports which has a « blacklist » of journals to avoid. These journals are not eligible for funding from the Sentinel North Author Fund.

Contact and questions

For more information on the Sentinel North Author Fund, please read the FAQ below or contact Sophie Gallais, Operations Coordinator, at sophie.gallais@sn.ulaval.ca

Frequently asked questions

What is a subscription journal?
A subscription journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that requires readers to pay for access to its content. Only individuals or institutions that have purchased a subscription to the journal can access its articles. Recognized subscription journals are indexed in reliable databases (Web of Science, Scopus, etc.).

What is a fully open-access journal?
A fully open-access journal is an online, peer-reviewed scientific journal whose articles are available to everyone for free. Authors give permission for the article to be published, but retain their copyrights. The publisher does not receive any revenue from subscriptions, but may make money from article processing charges (APCs). If you would like to publish in a fully open-access journal, see the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). It lists and provides access to high-quality, fully open-access journals. Reputable open-access journals can also be found in reliable databases, such as Web of Science and Scopus.

What is a hybrid journal?
A hybrid journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that requires individuals or institutions to subscribe to access all of its articles. However, the journal may also publish open-access articles by charging the author additional fees.

Why are open-access articles in hybrid journals not eligible for the Author Fund?
Like many other institutions, Sentinel North has chosen not to encourage the publishing practices of hybrid journals. They require authors to pay additional fees to make their articles open access, but university libraries still need to pay for access to the entire journal. In other words, the publisher receives two types of payment for one article.

Several subscription journals also offer to make articles open access, but charge the author an additional fee to do so. Are articles published in these journals automatically ineligible for the Author Fund?
No. Authors may publish in this type of journal, but they may not pay for open access. They must also agree to submit the accepted version of their article to Corpus^UL, Université Laval’s institutional repository, so that it can be made freely available.

What is the “accepted version” of an article?
This is the version of an article that has had changes made after the peer review process, but has not yet been published or formatted by the publisher.

Why do you recommend submitting the “accepted version for publication, including all requested changes, but without the journal formatting”?
Few publishers allow the final PDF of an article to be published in open access. However, the vast majority agree that the version accepted for publication, which includes the requested changes but does not have the journal’s formatting, should be made freely available through an institutional repository like Corpus^UL.

What essential information should be included in the accepted version of an article?
Visit this page (available in French only) to learn more and see the best practices: Bonnes pratiques pour le dépôt d’une version acceptée dans Corpus^UL.

Can someone other than the first author apply to the Author Fund?
Yes. Third parties may apply to the Author Fund on behalf of an article’s first author. However, the first author must still be a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow who is receiving funding from Sentinel North or participating in a research project funded by Sentinel North.

Why are only publications by graduate students or postdoctoral fellows eligible for funding?
One of the objectives of the Fund is to encourage first-author publications by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are receiving funding from, or participating in a project funded by, Sentinel North.

Why are first authors only eligible for 3 grants per year?
The Sentinel North program includes several hundred students, as well as more than 140 researchers and teams from 34 departments across 7 faculties at Université Laval. As a result, we only allow first authors to receive funding up to 3 times a year in order to allow as many teams, students, and postdoctoral fellows as possible to benefit from the Fund.

My article has already been published. Can I still apply for funding from the Author Fund?
Yes. You may receive funding from the Author Fund if your published article was accepted 6 months or less before your application was submitted and you meet all of the eligibility criteria.

My article has been submitted to a journal, but hasn’t been accepted yet. Can I apply for financial support from the Author Fund?
No, not at this point. You will be able to apply to the Fund once your article has been accepted.

I am planning to publish an article on a northern research topic, but I am not funded or participating in a research project funded by Sentinel North. Can I apply to the Author Fund?
No. The Author Fund is only available for research projects funded by Sentinel North and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows participating in those projects.

Why does the fund only cover up to $2,500?
Publishers’ article processing charges vary widely. A study1 analyzing the costs reimbursed by different funding initiatives for open-access publishing found that funding ranged from $ CAD 750 to $4,000 USD. Sentinel North has chosen to cover reasonable APCs by limiting the reimbursable amount to $2,500 CAD. However, first authors may receive funding up to 3 times per year.
1- ClickA. B., & BorchardtR. (2019). Library Supported Open Access Funds: Criteria, Impact, and Viability. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 14(4), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29623

Are there other funds available to cover the costs of publishing in open-access journals?
Université Laval does not have the funds to support publication in open-access journals. However, the university’s library does offer discounts for publishing with certain publishers. These discounts generally apply when an article is submitted. Please contact the Université Laval library before submitting your publication. For more information, please write to maude.laplante-dube@bibl.ulaval.ca.

How do I submit an article to Corpus^UL?
Visit this page (available in French only) to learn more and see the best practices: Corpus^UL – Avant de déposer un document.

When should I submit my article to Corpus^UL?
We encourage you to submit your article to Corpus^UL as soon as it is accepted by the journal (as soon as you have an accepted version). You do not have to wait for the end of the publisher’s embargo. The Corpus^UL team will restrict access to the article until the publisher’s embargo is lifted. Once that period is up, the article will automatically be made open access.

Do I have to check with my publisher or the journal to see whether I can make my article open access in Corpus^UL?
No. The library team checks whether each document in Corpus^UL is distributed according to the publisher’s or journal’s conditions. To check the publisher’s or journal’s conditions for distribution beforehand, contact corpus@ulaval.ca. In order to facilitate the open-access distribution of articles, it is preferable to submit the version that has been accepted by the review committee, but does not have the journal’s layout.

My document’s publisher requires an embargo. Do I have to wait until the embargo is lifted to submit the document to Corpus^UL?
No. You can submit your paper as soon as it is accepted for publication and incorporates all the changes requested by the review committee. The Corpus^UL team will restrict access to the article until the publisher’s embargo is lifted. Once that period is up, the article will automatically be made open access.

Why is the document I submitted to Corpus^UL not available in open access?
There are two possible reasons. Either the publisher has prohibited open-access distribution of the document, or the Corpus^UL team has not received information about the publisher’s open-access conditions. The email you received after your document was processed by Corpus^UL explains the reason why access was restricted. If you have any questions, please contact corpus@ulaval.ca.

By submitting a document to Corpus^UL, do I automatically comply with the Tri-Agency Policy on Open Access to Publications?
No. To comply with the Tri-Agency Policy on Open Access to Publications, the publisher or journal must authorize open access to your article in Corpus^UL no later than 12 months after publishing. If you have any questions about this, please contact corpus@ulaval.ca. For more information on the Tri-Agency Policy on Open Access to Publications, visit the Government of Canada website.